#I wish I could better explain this one!

[britishsass]

Death Game Stories: Part 2

I said I'd keep going, so let's keep this train going! My first post was about the PARTICIPANTS in the death game. (Please click that if you want to see part 1!) This part, therefore, will continue down my list of four parts of the death game: Gameplay!

[Image ID: The "Seek a Way Out!" screen from Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma. There is dynamic typography, with a graphic of an exit sign on the right and a key at the bottom. End ID.]

This one is probably the hardest to really boil down into categories like I'd want to. Even so, there are multiple types I can say to start with.

1. Kill the other participants.

This one is self-explanatory. These games often end up with a "Last Man Standing" ending, with just the protagonists alive. It's also a rather common plotline, showing up in:

Judge (manga)

Hunger Games (books)

Battle Royale (movies)

Incite Mill (manga)

Danganronpa (video game)

Future Diary (manga)

Btooom! (manga)

This plotline often ends up with a lot of fight scenes, arguments, and dead bodies. It's often impossible for everyone to live, as well-- Although some people might try. (More on that in the next post.) The main aspect of this gameplay style is this: The participants are the ones to kill the others. There can be outside motivations, but the participants must be the ones to actually kill most often.

2. Win smaller games.

This one frequently will use demented versions of well-known games. I use "games" as a loose term, as well. It's more often in money-based stories, with some examples being these:

Death Bell (movie): Multiple small puzzles.

Zero Escape (video game series): Multiple escape rooms.

Squid Game (tv show): Multiple children's games.

As the Gods Will (manga): Multiple children's games.

Die Now (manga): Variety of games.

Choose or Die (movie): Multiple choices.

Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor (anime): Multiple games.

Alice in Borderland (manga): Multiple games.

Gantz (manga): Multiple hunts.

There are so, SO many for this one. Doing multiple rounds, often with different games, is a very popular option. It's a good way to shake things up a lot, after all. However, it does take a lot of creativity to keep coming up with interesting options, so it can be difficult as well. In video games, though, this is a good way to build up the gameplay loop.

3. Survive longer than the others

There's some games where people keep getting picked off, but it's hard to say anything else about it. For some examples:

King's Game (manga)

Would You Rather (movie)

It's a bit hard to come up with more off the top of my head, but these ones are examples of where the goal is just to live a while longer.

4. Escape!

This one can be an aspect of other gameplay types as well, fun fact! In fact, it usually is. Here's a few of the ones where it shows up, and if it has another type as well.

Zero Escape (video game series) - Also a Type 2.

The Hunt (movie) - Nope.

Cube (movie) - Nope.

As the Gods Will (manga) - Also a Type 2.

Saw (movies) - Depends on the movie and the game.

Alice in Borderland (manga) - Also a Type 2.

It's a good one to include with hunters and prey, or to have a lot of traps throughout. As a general goal, though, escape makes a lot of sense, so it's frequently used as a background goal. And, as you can see... Type 2 works wonderfully with that.

~

This is just a basic list, of course! There are other ones. Sometimes, it's a single game (Ready or Not, Circle) and sometimes it's more complicated than that (Your Turn to Die). Even so, those are just some options that show up throughout pop culture to draw ideas from.

Next post: We discuss the responses of the participants. It'll be shorter than the others, but it's still an important part of the death game as a whole.

To see that, click here!

[spaghetticat3899]

When you absolutely despise something a lot of people like, and no matter what way you look at it you cannot see the appeal, but you know you can’t talk about it in public or else you’ll get dogpiled to hell and back, so you just kinda sit there frothing at the mouth like this

[billpottsismygf]

Episode 3 of Dead Boy Detectives is the best one yet. The murder is absolutely brutal, but it's tightly plotted and has so many great character moments throughout.

This is the most attached to Charles I've felt so far. He's currently furthest down my list of favourites out of the main cast, but his performance was really moving this episode. I also loved how it highlighted his relationships both with Crystal and Edwin, and the jealousy that Edwin feels there. Interesting that that jealousy seems to go both ways, too, with Charles being the last to leave Edwin and Monty alone at the end.

Edwin and Charles are unlikely friends in a lot of ways, but I do buy it, especially when he occasionally makes Edwin smile. Here, Edwin is confronted with the fact that he actually doesn't know many of the deeper parts of Charles' life, and that he maybe hasn't shared all of his own. Really nicely done.

Edwin's sexuality crisis continues to be really compelling. I actually adore his dynamic with Monty. I know he's literally a plant by Esther, but their tiny interactions so far have so much chemistry. I also have Thoughts on why Edwin is more open to him than the Cat King, and it's the plausible deniability of it all. The Cat King was extremely upfront about what he wanted from Edwin, and Edwin could not quite bring himself to admit he even understood what that was. Whereas with Monty he's able to retreat behind his protests that "he is a boy and I am a boy, if anything he just enjoys ghosts".

Also! Crsytal and Edwin are becoming friends!!! Crystal's my second favourite character and I'm so happy they're warming up to each other. Edwin is such a spiky character but I love him and want everyone else to love him. On that note, him being understanding to Niko about her trauma also made me very happy. Edwin is not budging as my favourite character!

Small things:

Esther continues to have the best, most over the top performance. Perfect, no notes.

Niko yaoi enjoyer and general weirdo, I love her so much <3

[thegothicviking]

"Vampire in the Garden" is underrated and I wish there were more episodes or seasons!

This beautiful hidden gem did NOT need to stab me so HARD in the HEART! 😭❤

[uncanny-tranny]

Quit being transphobic and adding the asterisk to make it say trans men* and trans women*. It's 2023. I thought we were past this.

This is probably about my post about trans women and trans men exchanging advice since it's been gaining traction, and I add the asterisk to signal that this isn't just about trans women and trans men. As somebody who isn't solely a trans man, it's weird to me that people have almost demanded that I just... ignore that, because it "isn't close to cisness." I added the asterisk for brevity and to signal that it's also about transfem people, transmasc people, transneutral people, genderqueers, genderfreaks, and whomever else I am not mentioning (memory loss gang, rise with me on this one).

Maybe you aren't a fan of how I indicated that difference (which is not what I have an issue with), but I truly do not appreciate being told that me acknowledging that trans men and trans women aren't the only people in this community is transphobic. If you aren't a fan of the asterisk, don't use it because that's completely neutral. But don't go after trans people who use it for literally non-transphobic reasons. Trans women and trans men are important members of the community, but they are not the only people who are trans in this space.

This will be my only response about this because I do think an explanation of my thought process in that post and posts like this would be helpful. But I'm drawing a firm boundary with how I'm talked to. This type of engagement is incredibly upsetting to me, and while I understand the aversion you may have to my language, I'm not going to be okay with being spoken to like this.

[mysicklove]

the amount of ppl who have lied to me about their age and then used my kindness to their advantage truly makes me want to delete this account

[pickled-flowers]

Having very big thoughts about spirituality and humanity.. alas I am never articulate enough so I'm just gonna rent in the tags as always

[icewindandboringhorror]

Everytime I face a new character limit on a website that didn't have them before/used to have really long ones... AUGHHhhh the modern social media world was not made for people like me (lovers of details, rambling, elaboration, thorough explanation, and nuance)

[skitskatdacat63]

Some contemplations on the matador au...sorry, I'm like a child with a new toy 😭(I've not abandoned my other stuff btw obv but at certain point, it gets a bit hard to build an AU cause I'm like, I have so many ideas but idk how to post them in a cohesive way???? So it's a bit more relaxing and fun to play with a new one for a bit bcs everything is new :) )

This au mostly exists bcs I rly like drawing ornate things, such as the matador costume. But I've been thinking a lot lately abt the actual content of it. Vettonso(of course.) I have a few ideas abt the actual avenue of it. I have one main one, and then two jokey ones.

○

The first(and actual) one would be the original thought that both of them are matadors. And Seb retires after injury(btw jfc bullfighting injuries are such body horror. The one guy I was researching was impaled in the skull and lost his eye and some of his hearing. But he came back to bullfighting, and at some point was impaled in the chest and injured his lung. And still kept competing I think??? Somehow there's athletes more insane than f1 drivers, shocking, I know.)

I think Fernando would be renowed for his resilience and Seb for his agility. And both for their exceptional showmanship and flair 🤭 There's actually more than just matadors! Seb would prob start off as Fernando's assistant, a banderillero(kind of an assistant to the matador. They stick these flag things in the bull, and have to be super agile and fast.) And then becomes a matador in his own right(surpassing Fernando's achievements????) But as mentioned, gets a pretty bad injury and has to retire. But he still feels a lot of admiration and respect for Nando and comes to watch his matches. And Fernando *always* dedicates his kill to Seb, throwing his hat at him, hoping he'll one day come back. Seb is like: "what do I do with this box of hats..." Fernando is crying in the corner bcs he's lost a lot of his motivation.

It's really !!!!! to think about their suit designs and the evolution of it. They're pretty united when Seb is Fernando's assistant(Nando wearing light blue with gold, Seb darker blue with silver.) And then Seb becomes a matador(dark blue and gold), and Fernando suddenly changes his suit to bright red(he is upset, he is seeing red, haha get the bull joke?) Seb would start wearing that circa 2010 bull hat after successful matches, thus cementing himself as the "red bull" and Fernando, his rival, "bull-killer." They're not directly competing, but thematically they are. In traditional bull matches, there's 3 matadors vs 6 bulls. So vettonso are often in the same matches, indirectly competing against each other, but fighting to have the most flair and success. Fernando sees defeating Seb to be just as important as defeating the actual bull. He slays the bull, and then conquers the other.

Sobbing to imagine Fernando abandon his hatred for Seb after witnessing him getting injured. Cradling his bloody, torn up body. Pressing his hat to Seb's chest, soaking up his blood with his own cape. By that point, Seb had had a dark green suit. And ever since he retired, Fernando now wears the same shade, as an homage to his once great rival, dedicating every kill that Seb never got to have to the man himself.

Hahaha okay silly versions:

Two is just bullfighter!Fernando being driver Seb's wag 😭

Everyone notes the irony of him being a Red Bull driver who constantly has bull iconography(2010 bull hat, petting the bull on his car, "riding" the bull at the end of 2012, etc.) dating a man who kills bulls for a living. But it turns out Fernando is the only one who can tame the bull 🤭, and also Seb is the only bull he can't bring himself to kill. Seb makes a helmet for the Spanish gp based on the embroidery of Fernando's suit. Fernando tries to incorporate Seb's logo and rbr logo somewhere on his cape. They share a trophy shelf 🥰 and Fernando brings one of his hats to the Spanish gp to publicly bestow upon Seb.

The third is so stupid 😭 Basically: Seb becomes the human physical manifestation of one of the bulls Fernando is meant to kill, and tries to seduce him into leaving the bullfighter life. So he's a bull-boy: tails, ears, horns and all 😏 So Fernando comes home from a match, and Seb is there, kneeling, when he opens his front door. Fernando now must conquer a bull in a *different* way. Bull-boy out who is out to ruin your livelihood by seductively splaying himself across every surface in your house and encouraging you to tug on his septum ring, and forget that you have a match to go to this weekend, and wouldn't you rather enjoy a bull rather than kill one?

[tls123]

Oh my god HOW DID YOU LIKE SVSSS!!!!!

i liked it more than i thought i would but overall less than i might have given the potential of the story, i think in general i really enjoyed the characters (mxtx never goes wrong with characters, she creates them in a way that makes me feel unhinged) and the world building but the pay off to the set up—which i really liked!—felt a bit........ i mean, just alright.

the dynamics too are pure mxtx, personally the bin/gqiu dynamic specifically really was the least interesting part of the whole story. to me!! but individually i loved both characters. my interest was just elsewhere because """elsewhere""" felt way more fascinating idk how to explain it

was very, very happy about the extra with airplane and the yue qingyuan / shen jiu one because that's exactly what i wanted more of in the story itself as well as just more shen yuan/qingqiu interacting with cang qiong mountain

maybe it's my orv brain but like i told jana a while back i think i would have enjoyed svsss way more if it was more about shen yuan (loner; hater; etc) suddenly finding himself among all of these people (disciples looking up to him; sect siblings relying on him one way or another; common folk admiring him; etc etc) and starting to.... live? again?

Shen Qingqiu hadn't noticed that, unconsciously, he no longer considered the disciples around him (...) to be mob characters the novel had described in a scant number of words.

^from volume one, he starts seeing them almost immediately because he's not actually that separate and he genuinely cares. all the time. about everything. even before that we get:

This was only a book, and all the people were constructs, imaginary characters. Logically, Shen Qingqiu was very clear on this fact...but when a character was actually being taunted and bullied right before his eyes, it was just flat-out unrealistic to expect him to be completely unmoved.

like why are you lying, shen yuan (<- svsss tagline if there ever was one)

just the idea of this really lonely detached guy finding a community, i know it's not the story mxtx was trying to tell but again, with the set up i really wanted to see it go in that direction.

there's one line from vol two where liu qingge goes "you fear becoming a burden to cang qiong mountain (...) but cang qiong mountain fears not your burden"

and basically what i'm saying is that i wish the story had been about THAT

(and also ning yingying's lines in that same chapter about shizun always taking on everything himself and why is it always you like that whole moment with the cang qiong mountain almost begging him to see that they care. idek what i'm saying but you know)

(also foaming at the mouth that we only got tiny tiny glimpses of shen yuan's life from before, those handful of times he mentioned his siblings i wanted to take a bite out of my kindle. tell me more!! dear fucking lord tell me more!! keep talking! elaborate!! he really felt very "kim dokja and his fourth wall" at times, sorry once more about the orv brain)

tldr: i guess i wanted a story about shen yuan/qingqiu but mxtx created svsss to be a story about bin/gqiu. and i just have to be okay with that.

[sonknuxadow]

they werent lying that knuckles series barely has knuckles in it

[hobermallowed]

not entirely sure how it works but I’ll go ahead and headcanon that Frey and Susurrus are intertwined at the soul now. So what happens to Frey happens to him. So if she dies he goes with her.

[friendofflowersandfrogs]

I would just like to apologize to all the people I’ve ghosted in this past year. I promise I never stopped caring about you. Unfortunately, when I’m exhausted, social interactions are the first thing to go, and I have been exhausted for so long I’ve forgotten what energy is

[swollenwithangst]

i hate my uncontrollable need to analyze everything. my inability to only partially devote myself to things that will never be a constant. being too little or too much, exacerbating or not quite enough. i have roused myself with the guise of our friendship, acknowledging now that's all it can be. rejecting my kindness, while bringing tenfold your own. like magnets we push and we pull, all based upon the way in which we chose to orient ourselves that day.

[delta-piscium]

asking whoever came up with quotes in academic papers for their hand in marriage, i love filling up my word count with quotes that explain my point so i don’t have to and they make me look so well read too, we shall have a spring wedding my love

[snufflepup]

Tonight is a My Love is Sick night .